Edlira de Andrés
IOM FOCAL POINT
Edlira de Andrés is serving at the IOM Regional Office for West and Central Africa, and she is responsible for the coordination and strengthening of the IOM’s policy and programmatic coherence in the Sahel, in line with the United Nations Integrated Strategy for the Sahel (UNISS), as well other regional strategic frameworks. Previously, Eda was based at the IOM Regional Office for East Africa and the Horn in Nairobi, serving as the Special Advisor to the Regional Director. In this capacity, she provided specialized technical support to the Regional Director, facilitating his engagements with various stakeholders including UN agencies, regional integration mechanisms, governmental bodies, donors, and private sector partners. Eda has drafted cooperation agreements, memoranda of understanding, and other pertinent legally binding documents with partner institutions. With regards to protection of migrants and victims of trafficking, in Nairobi, Eda also led the roll out of the regional multi stakeholder training on “Caring for Trafficked Persons” in Djibouti, Somalia mainly in Mogadishu, Somaliland and Bossaso & Kenya, and provided technical guidance in mainstreaming IOM’s available resources on migrant assistance ongoing protection initiatives.
In Panama, Eda collaborated with the Panamanian National Bar to provide legal assistance services to both Panamanian nationals and migrants, covering areas such as civil law, labor law, and criminal law at the San Miguelito Branch of the Free Legal Advice Unit. Additionally, in her role as President of the Board of the French School in Panama, Eda oversaw various legal matters, including reviewing civil contracts, ensuring compliance with immigration and contractual regulations for all staff, providing legal counsel on labor law issues, and leading the approval process for the reform of the school's legal statutes. She also led the restructuring and reorganization of the school's administration and management, contributing to the preparation of legal documentation related to procedures, human resources, and financial matters.
Furthermore, Eda volunteered as a Pro Bono Advisor on legal issues related to Trafficking in Persons (TiP) and Smuggling of Migrants (SoM), with a particular focus on the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons especially Women and Children and the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air investigation techniques on smuggling of migrants. Furthermore, she assisted in the preparation of the investigative techniques on smuggling of migrants as established in the Basic Training Manual on Investigating and Prosecuting the Smuggling of Migrants.
Eda holds an MBA in Management and Administration of Private Enterprises from Spain, and an LL.B. in Law and a B.A. in Political Sciences. She speaks English, French, Spanish and Albanian.